AH-WR-0164

O. J. Walker

Sailing Canal Schooner · United States · Lost 1895 · Lake Champlain

A canal schooner that hauled brick for three decades on Lake Champlain sank in a sudden windstorm a mile from her home wharf.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

O. J. Walker was built at Burlington, Vermont, in 1862 as a sister design to the canal schooner General Butler. She worked Lake Champlain and canal routes for thirty-three years, latterly hauling brick from the Malletts Bay brickyard. On May 11, 1895, a severe windstorm opened her seams; the crew escaped in a rowboat and she sank off Burlington. The wreck, documented by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, is among the best-preserved sailing canal boats on the lake.

Vessel

Built: 1862
Builder: Orson Saxton Spear shipyard
Yard: Burlington, Vermont
Material: Wood
Length: 86 ft
Beam: 14.5 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Schooner rig, rigged for canal towing
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: May 11, 1895
Cause: Storm
Location: Burlington Bay, west of the Burlington breakwater
Water: Lake Champlain
Voyage: Malletts Bay, Vermont → Burlington, Vermont
Cargo: Bricks and tile
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 65 ft
Condition: Well preserved; wheel, cabin hatch and part of the brick cargo remain visible.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1990s
Protection: Vermont Underwater Historic Preserve; National Register of Historic Places